As Canada trade war rages, could Maine electricity prices spike?
Canadian leaders said this week they are considering cutting off or hiking taxes on electricity exports to the U.S. in retaliation for a new round of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.
The move, which would be unprecedented, could drive up electricity prices for Maine customers starting next year and would mark a new front in the ongoing trade war between the two longtime allies.
Trump’s new tariffs on about $20 billion of Canadian goods deepened the trade war between the two countries in the past week and placed Maine’s highly integrated cross-border economy on the front line.
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But until Monday, electricity and energy — among Maine’s biggest imports from Canada — had been left out of the conversation.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford told The Associated Press that he would “do whatever it takes,” including cutting off electricity to 1.5 million U.S. homes and businesses, in retaliation for the new 50% tariffs on Canadian goods imposed by the Trump administration this weekend. Ford has added a 25% tax on exports before — last year, when Trump’s Canada tariffs were just beginning.
Trump responded Tuesday by threatening to rename Lake Ontario, “Lake America.”
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Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette also told reporters she would not “exclude anything” as the U.S. and Canada “entered a new phase” of their trade war. Quebec exports enough electricity to the U.S. to power more than 2 million homes for a year — including through the newly operational and long-litigated NECEC transmission line through northwestern Maine.
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New England’s grid is not directly connected to Ontario, but is connected to Quebec in three places and New Brunswick in two. Fees or an electricity cutoff would be especially harsh for 58,000 customers in northern Maine, in Versant’s Maine Public District, who get all their electricity from across the border in New Brunswick.
“The biggest issue really is for northern Maine — they are connected exclusively to New Brunswick,” Maine Public Utilities Commission Chair Philip Bartlett said. “The good news is we have had very good relationships with New Brunswick over the years, and really all of our Canadian neighbors.”
New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt was less bullish than her colleagues from other provinces on cutting off or taxing electricity supply, saying it was “an extremely serious line to cross.” Bartlett said electricity has historically been exempt from tariffs and fees, and their inclusion now would “pretty significant departure from previous practice” and could seriously impact northern Maine prices.
Regardless, Holt told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that electricity supply could be a useful bargaining chip at the negotiating table.
Philip Bartlett, the chair of the Maine Public Utilities Commission, in 2019. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)
Maine regulators ask for bids from companies each year for the next year’s electricity supply. Currently, about a quarter of that supply for Central Maine Power and Versant customers comes from New Brunswick. If there’s less competition from Canadian suppliers, prices could increase.
“In the event Canadian provinces reduce (or entirely cut) the amount of electricity they are sending to New England, we would expect the impact to largely be financial, in the form of higher wholesale market prices,” Mary Cate Colapietro, a spokesperson for the nonprofit energy supply corporation ISO New England, said in an email.
Prices, Bartlett said, likely wouldn’t be impacted until early next year, when the new standard offer for electricity supply goes into effect. Costs are locked in by contract for the current year.
In January, bills went up $12 in most of Maine, and $16 in that northern Maine district supplied by New Brunswick, because of the standard offer.
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The standoff over tariffs is having political ramifications here. Bobby Charles, the Maine Republican nominee for governor who has previously supported tariffs, said Monday that he did not support Trump’s most recent efforts to escalate the trade war with Canada. Hannah Pingree, the Democratic nominee for governor, said in a series of statements Tuesday that Maine losing Canadian electricity was “unthinkable” and that Charles’ newfound opposition to Trump’s tariffs was “politically convenient.”
Vice President JD Vance told a crowd in Maine on Monday that talks with Canada were ongoing. But Trump has continued to attack Ford and Prime Minister Mark Carney, and threaten new 50% tariffs on Canadian cars and steel.
Carney pulled out of negotiations Friday evening, citing last-minute American demands for a veto on Canadian trade deals, restrictions on heavy-duty trucks and weakened protections for Canada’s use of the French language.
Carney also announced “dollar for dollar” tariffs on the U.S. Tuesday morning, imposing new taxes on American steel, dairy products, appliances and farm equipment. Canada is also matching U.S. tariffs on pulp and paper products, one of the most integrated industries between Maine and Canada.
And Canada is slapping 25% tariffs on fisheries products, including lobster.
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Tagged: central maine power, cost of living, election 2026, electric utilities, NECEC, power line corridor, tariffs
Ethan reports on cost of living for the Portland Press Herald. Before he joined in mid-2026, he covered local news in Augusta and surrounding areas and ran a weekly newsletter for the Kennebec Journal. More by Ethan Horton
